Understanding the Ethical Trading Initiative

The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) is a unique partnership between businesses, trade unions, and NGOs that aims to improve working conditions in global supply chains.

The ETI was established in 1998 by a group of companies, trade unions, and NGOs who shared a common goal of promoting fair labor practices in global supply chains.

The ETI has a membership of over 70 companies, trade unions, and NGOs from around the world, including major brands like H&M and Tesco.

The ETI's core objective is to eliminate forced labor and child labor in global supply chains, as well as to promote fair wages and safe working conditions.

The ETI's Base Code sets out 10 principles for business to follow in order to ensure that their operations are free from exploitation and abuse.

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The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) is an alliance between companies, trade unions, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that aims to improve working conditions in global supply chains.

ETI works in partnership to improve the lives of workers across the globe who make or grow consumer goods, including everything from tea to T-shirts, from flowers to footballs.

To join ETI, a company must commit to implementing the ETI's Base Code throughout its supply chain, which is a code of practice, principles, and values based on international labor standards.

The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) is an alliance between companies, trade unions, and NGOs that aims to improve working conditions globally.

ETI focuses on people who make or grow consumer goods, such as tea, T-shirts, flowers, and footballs.

By joining ETI, companies commit to implementing the ETI Base Code throughout their supply chain.

The ETI Base Code is a code of practice, principles, and values based on international labor standards.

Companies must adopt the ETI Base Code in all their foreign direct investment operations and relationships with suppliers.

ETI works to fight against labor exploitation and improve the working lives of people across the globe.

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The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) is a ground-breaking alliance of companies, trade unions, and voluntary organisations. It works in partnership to improve the lives of workers across the globe who make or grow consumer goods - everything from tea to T-shirts, from flowers to footballs.

The ETI is focused on people who make or grow consumer goods, aiming to improve their working conditions. ETI's main goal is to fight against labor exploitation.

The initiative works to improve the working lives of people across the globe who make or grow consumer goods. This includes workers in various industries, from manufacturing to agriculture.

By joining the ETI, companies voluntarily commit to implementing the ETI's Base Code throughout their supply chain. The ETI Base Code is a code of practice, principles, and values based on international labor standards.

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The ETI Base Code is a set of principles that all members of the Ethical Trading Initiative are expected to adopt and enforce.

The code includes six key principles: employment is freely chosen, freedom of association and collective bargaining, working conditions are safe and hygienic, child labour shall not be used, living wages are paid, and working hours are not excessive.

Employment is freely chosen, which means workers are not forced to work there or for longer than is contracted, and they are not forced to remain in the employment if they indicate they do not want to.

Freedom of association and collective bargaining is also a key principle, allowing workers to become members of trade unions or other forms of workers organisations.

Working conditions are safe and hygienic, which is a measurable and quantifiable aim, but can be challenging to implement in practice.

Child labour is prohibited, but this point has been criticised for having unintended consequences.

Living wages are paid, which is often much higher than the minimum wage, but can be difficult to implement due to factors outside of companies' control.

Working hours are not excessive, relying on states' laws on maximum working hours, but exceeding the legal working limit is difficult in most cases.

Some of these points have better compliance than others, with measurable and quantifiable aims like working hours and no child labour being easier to achieve than more subjective points like freedom of association.

Here is a summary of the ETI Base Code principles:

The ETI code of labor practice has released a comprehensive report on whether workers really benefit from it. The report is available for download in various formats, including PDF.

You can access the report by visiting the ETI website and downloading the following documents: Summary report (548kb), Main Report (1.0Mb), India Chapter (587kb), Vietnam Chapter (605b), South Africa Chapter (549kb), Costa Rica Chapter (614kb), UK Chapter (620kb), and China Chapter (489kb).

The report also includes findings and recommendations from individual country case studies.

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Employers must provide a safe and healthy work environment. This includes taking steps to prevent accidents and injuries, as well as giving workers regular health and safety training.

Clean toilet facilities, potable water, and sanitary food storage areas are essential for maintaining a safe working environment. Employers must ensure that these basic needs are met, including when offering accommodation to workers.

Employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthy work environment. They must take steps to prevent accidents and injuries, which is essential for maintaining a productive and efficient workplace.

Regular health and safety training is a must for workers. This ensures they know how to handle emergencies and take care of their own well-being while on the job.

Clean toilet facilities, potable water, and sanitary food storage areas are all basic necessities that employers must provide. This is not just a matter of comfort, but also a matter of health and safety.

Accommodation offered by employers should meet workers' basic needs. This includes providing a clean and safe place for them to rest and recover.

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Boohoo, a UK fast fashion brand, withdrew their interest in joining the ETI in 2019 after being asked to meet with the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) to discuss their damaged reputation.

The UK Environmental Audit Committee had recommended that Boohoo engage with USDAW to repair their reputation, and become a member of the ETI, which would have bound them to ethical practices such as paying a living wage and protecting workers' freedom of association.

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Boohoo refused to meet with USDAW and was found to be paying workers at their Burnley warehouse just £3.50 per hour, a fraction of the legal minimum wage of £8.21.

Fyffes, an Ireland-based banana supplier, was suspended and eventually expelled from the ETI in 2019 due to repeated failure to enforce the base code.

Fyffes was accused of not respecting workers' right to freedom of association and disallowing trade unions that workers chose to join, leading to the suspension order in May 2017.

In 2019, Fyffes had an agreement with Banana Link to reinstate sacked union members, raise wages and improve conditions for workers, but it's unclear if they have followed through on these commitments.

Fyffes claimed they did not agree with the ETI's decision to expel them because the trade union in question was not legally recognised in Honduras, but they decided not to appeal the order.

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To partner with the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), companies must adopt the ETI Base Code and sign up to the Principles of Implementation. This requires a clear commitment to ethical trade, integrating it into core business practices, driving improvements to working conditions, supporting suppliers, and reporting activities openly and accurately.

Companies must also participate in ETI activities, including members' meetings, projects, and working groups, alongside their trade union and non-governmental organisation colleagues. They pay an annual fee to join ETI, which is dependent on the company's turnover.

ETI welcomes enquiries about membership from any company, regardless of size or type of business. To join, companies should contact the ETI secretariat to learn more about the membership process and commitments.

The ETI has a strong foundation with 90 member companies, employing 10 million workers globally within their supply chains.

These member companies include high-profile names like the BBC, Burberry, Co-op, Fat Face, and ASOS, demonstrating the ETI's reach and influence.

Companies of all sizes can apply for membership, regardless of their type of business, and pay annual subscriptions to support the ETI's work.

The ETI is registered as a company limited by guarantee, with a company number of 03578127.

Peter McAllister, formerly the Executive Director of the International Cocoa Initiative, is the current Director of the ETI, having taken over the role from Dan Rees in 2010.

To partner with ETI, you'll need to adopt their Base Code, which sets out the minimum standards for corporate members. This code requires companies to demonstrate a clear commitment to ethical trade.

Companies must also sign up to ETI's Principles of Implementation, which are the approaches to ethical trade that member companies should follow. These principles include integrating ethical trade into core business practices and driving year-on-year improvements to working conditions.

To implement these principles, companies should demonstrate a clear commitment to ethical trade, integrate it into their core business practices, drive year-on-year improvements to working conditions, support suppliers to improve working conditions, and report openly and accurately about their activities.

Member companies must also play an active part in ETI activities, including in members' meetings, projects, and working groups. This means collaborating with trade union and non-governmental organisation colleagues.

Here are the key requirements for ETI membership:

Companies pay an annual fee to join ETI, which is dependent on their turnover.